Karachi: Currently, Pakistan has 72 private and 42 public sector medical colleges as well as 42 private and 17 public sector dental colleges. Majority of the private dental colleges are owned or governed by medical professionals as CEO or Directors. Therefore, the professional, academic and service priorities, being different, remain neglected and unaddressed.
The appeal relates to a recent decision taken by the Federal Health Minister and the new PMDC President whereby MDCAT pass percentage for admission to the dental programme for 2022 has been lowered to 45%. The dental professionals, thus, share their concerns about the unsuitable admission criteria along with a few other important academic matters.
The appeal is a consideration to improve education standards. The appeal requests that quality, be given preference over quantity, and commercial interests be given a backseat. That dentistry is a manually dexterous oral health care profession and should not be treated as a second grade health care profession.
It also states the existing 4-year BDS programme needs to be upgraded to a new 5-year DDS programme in line with the global trends. Mandatory 7 new dental specialties need to be taught as teaching and examination subjects. The current 4-year BDS programme can continue at dental colleges that are not interested in upgrading themselves.
There is also an imperative need to set up a separate Pakistan Dental Council, consisting only of dental academics. Such a council must have a status equivalent to PMDC/ PMC to address our dental professional academic and licensing policy and other matters. This PDC should consist of representation from all provinces and serve as an independent national regulatory body.
According to reports, our current 4-year BDS graduates are facing recognition issues in Saudi Arabia and other countries regarding job opportunities. This appeal denotes that the remedy lies in upgrading the programme to a 5-year DDS programme.
The fraternity expects a positive response from the relevant authorities in resolving the aforementioned matters and concerns.
